A cyan bird of prey tasked with fetching Qin Ming shouted at the top of its lungs from afar, "Brother Qin, bird on your side! Please don't shoot!"
On the way over, it had felt dread, fearing it might be slain by mistake. Word had been circulating among the local birds recently that this youth shot and blew up every bird he saw—he was simply far too ruthless.
Qin Ming smiled and waved, reassuring it not to be nervous.
The cyan raptor secretly let out a sigh of relief and circled down to land on the ground. But when it caught sight of his spoils of war, it began shivering again. First and foremost, the sharp talons of Great King Black Peng leaped into its view!
Next, it saw the Fire Qilin Lion, the mountain ape, the brocade sparrow, the saber master Huang Yuan... Plumes, pelt, and fangs littered the ground, glistening brightly.
This was completely outrageous and sent chills down its spine; every single one of those was a veteran monster!
"Are you a local bird monster?" Qin Ming asked.
"Young brother—no, Great King! Although I'm a local bird, I've long since forsaken darkness to embrace the light! Recently, I have followed the orders of Great King White Peacock to patrol the territories. I have definitely never done anything atrocious!"
The cyan raptor was truly scared out of its wits, terrified that this fiendlike youth would settle scores with it too. Its beak trembled so violently that it nearly bit its own tongue.
Wind howled as the cyan raptor carried Qin Ming and his spoils toward the city a hundred li away. The entire way, its body was stretched taut, not daring to breathe loudly.
Birds of prey were not permitted to fly straight into the city, lest they be shot down by the city's giant ballistas.
Qin Ming entered the city laden with a mountain of spoils, drawing sidelong glances from crowds of onlookers. Experienced adventurers and hunters were all thoroughly shaken.
"So young, yet he has slain so many veteran monsters! What background does he have? Most likely a mutant the Six Imperials intends to nurture as a priority!"
"Young and promising, with a vast future ahead. Could the declining Six Imperials ancestral court be poised for a resurgence?!"
At the Six Imperials encampment, Zhou Tao, the white peacock, and the black crane had all returned and were currently "settling the accounts" in grave conversation.
The white peacock said, "During this assessment, an expert attempted twice to eliminate the Cui clan's young mutant. Could someone be trying to drive a wedge between the thousand-year clan and the Six Imperials?"
Zhou Tao was taken aback. "Do you mean Cui Chongxuan, or Qin Ming?"
"Cui Chongxuan received that special attention twice," the white peacock replied. The mutants were under its supervision.
It then added, "Qin Ming, Zhuo Ya, and Cao Wuji were each targeted once."
The black crane spoke up. "Matters were more relaxed on my end; no accidents occurred."
The group of youths it was tasked with watching were not mutants.
"There wasn't much movement deep in the Plain of Divine Demise," Zhou Tao remarked. He had been keeping watch on those aberrations within the night mist who far exceeded the scope of the assessment. Then, he sighed heavily, wondering how he would apologize to those old fellows upon his return.
The white peacock offered comfort: "Just speak the plain truth once you get back. The wondrous medicines themselves are rewards; so long as it is within the rules, having the ability to claim them is his own skill."
Zhou Tao grew agitated. "Four mutants came, so harvesting one or two stalks would be normal, and even two or three would be tolerable. But one of those boys was practically stocking up inventory—it was as if he were swinging a sickle to harvest a vegetable patch!"
The black crane was surprised. "In an age when the Newborn path is in steady decline, there is actually such a dazzling prodigy? I must take a closer look later."
The white peacock said with solemn gravity, "Elder Zhou, you should be happy instead. The Six Imperials has decayed and fallen into decline, yet you may have the fortune of witnessing the rise of a patriarch of resurgence!"
"I understand what is at stake," Zhou Tao nodded.
The white peacock said, "The territory you assigned him this time was on the verge of the red line; the difficulty was excessive."
Zhou Tao said, "It didn't cross the line. The Silver Wolf King, Black Peng, and Fire Qilin Lion weren't on the dossier; he only needed to get rid of a donkey monster. How could I have expected him to be brimful of righteousness, diving into passionate battle? I heard he nearly got himself killed before striking down those veteran monsters one by one."
The white peacock nodded. "Mm, the specifics cannot be verified. He shot and blew up all nine bird monsters I had tamed."
Zhou Tao nodded. If the white peacock was unwilling to elaborate, probing further would yield no more details anyway.
Qin Ming noticed that when the young disciples at the Six Imperials encampment saw him, shock appeared on their faces. Some opened their mouths as if to speak, but closed them again.
Some of these young disciples hailed from the Zhou lineage, while others were grand-disciples of high-ranking, powerful elders. They had come to assist with the assessment and check on the "wondrous medicines" in passing. How could their expressions not shift? It felt as though the sky had collapsed—the medicine patch had been razed to the ground!
They knew full well that certain highly favored younger junior brothers and sisters had long since reserved those priceless wild "wondrous medicines," yet they had been snatched away right under their noses!
Because of this, Elder Zhou Tao felt a massive headache, which was understandable given the vast web of interests involved.
The group of youths returned one after another, down by over a dozen in total. Even though they had been warned to act within their capabilities and not force an engagement if they could not deal with the monsters on the dossier, some had still taken risks and lost their lives.
Zhou Tao sighed, first mourning the fallen youths, then encouraging the returning, vibrant seeds, telling them that they were the future of the Six Imperials.
This time, he solemnly greeted each youth, inquiring in detail about their monster-slaying experiences.
Besides him, other experts from the Six Imperials encampment appeared as well. Showing great care for these young elites, they held an evening banquet to welcome them back and wash away the dust of travel.
The white peacock and the black crane shrank their bodies and also arrived at the banquet, paying special attention to the several juvenile extraordinaries, with their main focus being Qin Ming.
For this youth was simply too exceptional: nine Newborn transformations, yet he had slain veteran monsters in succession. Feats like these were more fitting for those seeds within the ancestral court who had studied the Six Imperials force.
The two high-order aberrations had no idea that Qin Ming had only reached his seventh Newborn transformation.
"Could he have studied the Six Imperials Heart Scripture alongside Cui Chongxuan?" The black crane harbored doubts.
This was an evening banquet. All who survived were deemed to have passed the assessment; they wore smiles and raised their wine cups, mingling with their future peers.
Clearly, many were clearheaded: the core disciple spots were limited, so they settled for the next best thing and were content to become elite disciples.
By now, quite a few had heard that the youth Qin Ming was exceedingly valiant and wonderfully warmhearted, having crossed territories to assist others. For instance, Zhou Lei and Huang Cheng had both received his care, making him truly someone worth befriending.
In particular, when people learned of his battle accomplishments, it felt like a dream—wasn't it just terrifyingly absurd?!
In truth, the record they learned of had been severely downplayed, because Zhou Tao had ordered it concealed, telling Qin Ming that this was for his own protection.
Zhou Tao had spoken frankly: this was to prevent outsiders from preemptively assassinating a heaven-sent genius of the Six Imperials. Qin Ming had nodded, feeling that Elder Zhou's considerations were quite thorough.
Zhou Tao's feelings at present were exceedingly complex. This time, he indeed had a selfish motive: his own uncle, Zhou Shize, had casually mentioned raising the stakes appropriately for the top candidates to grant them more tempering so they could become great talents in the future, even specifically naming Qin Ming, while strictly warning not to cross the red line and to act within the rules.
"We'll talk more in a bit." Zhou Tao turned and walked away. He could not favor one over the others; he still needed to show concern for the three other juvenile extraordinaries: Zhuo Ya, Cao Wuji, and Cui Chongxuan.
"You are all unpolished jades. So long as you master the Six Imperials force, white flood dragons, golden rhinoceroses—with your foundations, you can blast through them all!" Right from the start, Zhou Tao gave them supreme confidence.
Cao Wuji's eyes lit up instantly. What he lacked most was a cultivation technique renowned across the night mist world; he had mutant-level potential in vain, lacking a matching heavenly light force.
Qin Ming was listening as well, seriously pondering: during the Newborn stage, just how many "Imperials" of the Six Imperials force could one master?
When Qin Ming crossed hands with Cui Chongxuan on Luofu Immortal Mountain, he had heard him mention that becoming a mutant during the Newborn stage and mastering two Imperials of force was considered success.
This "success" presumably meant passing the benchmark. Could someone master three Imperials of force at the Newborn realm? Contemplating this, Qin Ming furrowed his brows.
If this deduction held, he could not afford to be complacent; he had to strive to improve himself.
For when he fused two wondrous techniques and over a dozen kinds of heavenly light force, he was able to suppress Cui Chongxuan, who had mastered one Imperial of force. If someone mastered three Imperials of force, would he need to fuse six wondrous techniques and thirty or forty kinds of heavenly light force?
"The burden is heavy and the road is long; I still need to work hard!" Qin Ming was just that unassuming, preferring to overestimate the mutants raised in the ancestral court rather than underestimate potential formidable adversaries.
"Rest assured, learning the Six Imperials force in the Outer Sage realm isn't late in the slightest. You will still undergo a complete metamorphosis. That is the marvel of the Six Imperials Heart Scripture. Our Fourth Patriarch, Young Patriarch, and others embarked on the path even later than you, yet their ultimate achievements were even greater."
The Fourth Patriarch and Young Patriarch Zhou Tao mentioned were the founder's fourth disciple and final close disciple. This was the truth: it was never too late to learn the Six Imperials Heart Scripture!
"To be safe, during the Newborn stage, I must fuse at least six wondrous techniques!" Qin Ming mused.
After having heart-to-heart talks and warm conversations with the youths, Zhou Tao returned to the youth who was exceedingly formidable in his eyes. He took a deep breath, adjusting his mindset: this really could be a patriarch of resurgence!
"Elder Zhou, when I slew a veteran monster, I discovered its horn was extraordinary—capable of dispelling poisons and nurturing medicinal efficacy. I polished a cup out of it and would like to give it to you in thanks for looking after me." Smiling, Qin Ming handed over a translucent, golden-yellow rhinoceros horn cup.
Zhou Tao took it, feeling as if it burned his hands, and nearly tossed it aside. For this was the horn of the golden rhinoceros, the "wild medicine" his own uncle Zhou Shize had been raising!
If Old Zhou saw him holding this cup to brew tea, he would probably want to slap him across the face.
"Very good, this is a fine gift. I accept it." He smiled and nodded, tucking it into his robes, resolved not to let Old Zhou see it upon returning.
Then, turning grave, he said, "For this assessment, I will give you the highest evaluation. I believe your performance is on par with a young sect master, or even deserving of being rated as Young Patriarch level. But my stance remains the same: let us observe for now and keep it confidential temporarily, lest enemies of the Six Imperials target you."
"I will follow Elder's arrangements," Qin Ming nodded.
Zhou Tao calculated silently to himself: this youth was already stronger than top-tier mutants, and on top of that, he had refined multiple kinds of wondrous blood in succession... his innate talent likely rivaled that of the Young Patriarch!
He even wondered: could this be a future founder-level figure?!
Zhou Tao said, "I examined some of the prey you slew; your heavenly light force is indeed exceptionally formidable. However, some forms of heavenly light force in this world are only extraordinary in the Newborn and Outer Sage realms and lack sustainable chapters. Such combined heavenly light forces cannot reach the end at all, as they become obstructed halfway. But the cultivation techniques of our Six Imperials ancestral court can support your loftiest ambitions; at every major realm, it ranks among the very foremost, with only a few heritages capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with it."
Having diligently studied the Six Imperials Heart Scripture, he understood heavenly light force far better than high-order aberrations like the white peacock and black crane. Thus, he had immediately determined that this youth had not studied the Six Imperials force alongside Cui Chongxuan.
Qin Ming nodded solemnly. Whether he ultimately went to the Six Imperials ancestral court or not, he had to display an expression of immense anticipation right now.
Having thought it through, Zhou Tao's attitude toward him completely transformed. If this truly was a patriarch of resurgence, if he didn't draw close now, when would he? He felt that this could be considered an outcome to everyone's satisfaction.
Afterward, the white peacock and black crane walked over and chatted with Qin Ming, regarding him in a whole new light.
However, neither lingered long, wanting to avoid attracting the attention of observant eyes who might find their attitude toward Qin Ming overly unusual.
The next day, as the night mist surged, the white peacock and black crane carried the group onto the journey back. Zhou Tao had mixed feelings; in the end, he had to shoulder everything alone.
He was wondering how to explain the matter of the wondrous medicines to those elders upon return. Qin Ming was full of anticipation, for Zhou Tao and the white peacock had both stated that once they returned, the promise would be fulfilled: they would be permitted to enter the Six Imperials Enlightenment Ground to comprehend an exceptionally formidable technique.
The pitch-black world was vast and boundless. The two flying mounts were exceedingly fast; forty thousand li was hardly a challenge for them.
With the Six Imperials ancestral court in sight, the party returned.
Chapter 153